Strange Quark Today

A city-owned pet adoption facility within a PetSmart in southwest Fort Worth — considered to be the very first of its sort in the land — is preserving the city money, generating business and, more important, hooking up countless homeless dogs and cats with new families. Since the Fort Worth Adoption Center opened April 25 down South Hulen Street, no adoptable pet has been put to sleep within the city, said Brandon Bennett, director of the Code Compliance Department. Every year, about 4,500 adoptable animals finish up in the city pound. Until recently, about 2,500 were put down when their time ran out inside the animal shelter, which can house 400 strays, he mentioned. More than 200 pets have been adopted ever since the center opened, a 100 percent improvement from last year, Bennett said. Demand has been so huge that pets from various other cities’ shelters are moved in, he said. [...]

The unsung persona of the pet adoption center is Bill Boecker, who along with his spouse, Toni, developed the idea for the collaboration and worked for months to make it happen, Bennett said. Boecker, an executive for the Bass family’s real estate interests, also co-founded Fort Worth Pet Adoption Partners, which funds the center. [...]